what's up yall

I just signed up the other day. I'm 32 years old, 6'0" and my natural weight if I don't workout and just eat when I want to is 145-150lb. I got up to 165 over the course of a few years by casually trying to eat more, drinking the occasional shake and doing squats and upper body workouts whenever my back wasn't killing me.

I've always had a hard time gaining weight, but I think it was mainly because I have a hard time eating enough.

I'm taking a more organized approach now... I'm seeing a chiropractor for the back, stretching every day even when I'm too busy to workout (tight hamstrings and hip flexors are the main cause of my back problems according to the chiro), eating a LOT more in spite of the nausea and supplementing with "pure mass" shakes every day. I'm hoping once I stretch my stomach out some I can eat this much on a regular basis and not feel stuffed all the time.

I'm starting to see a little progress with my routine and I'm up to 168 now. A coworker introduced me to this site, I've been doing some reading amd I'm starting my first cycle with a Phera Plex clone now to see if that can give me a jumpstart on the weight gaining process.

I wasn't planning on ever taking any kind of hormones, but I talked to a few guys recently who have been using them on and off for a while, some young, some older, and that has helped to un-demonize it for me.

I figure if I follow the cycling guidelines closely, follow up with good PCT and pay close attention to the sides it is probably worth the risk to me. I've always had an acne problem so I can deal with that unless it gets crazy out of control... the other stuff I'll just take as it comes.

Anyway, thanks for all the great info and hopefully I'll have some good news to report in a month or so!

I'm getting around 2600 calories and about 225 grams of protein, and that's with 2 pure mass shakes a day.

Try to increase them slowly (going from 2600-3000) over the next few weeks. Modest increases in calories are much easier for the body to handle and support muscle gains with less risk of fat gain. Little changes like this can make a huge difference.

1. get bigger/look better
2. become more flexible and healthy
3. get stronger

Long term:

1. develop a lot of core strength, be strong enough to pick another guy up off his feet and put him on the ground, be able to power up out of weird positions
2. get really flexible
3. take jiu jitsu and muay thai classes for a year or two at a gym where i can get some rolling/sparring experience